Brassieres



Jan. 28, 1964 M. BERNFELD BRASSIERES Filed Jan. 10, 1961 INVENTOR. [sae/ M firm ffi/d ATTORNEY United States Patent York Filed Jan. 10, 1961, Ser. No. 81,811 2 Claims. (Cl. 128-489) This invention relates to brassieres, and more particularly to brassieres provided with improved means for giving the required support to the wearers breasts while also having provision for accommodating changes in the fullness of the breasts of the wearer.

It has heretofore been the practice to provide brassieres which are capable of accommodating changes in the fullness of the wearers breasts and such has been done by making the breast cups of an elastic material. In this prior art way, the entire surface area of the cups was permitted to expand in response to changes in breast fullness. Brassieres embodying the aforedescribed prior art construction have proved to be unsatisfactory because, while the elastic cups did expand to accommodate increasing breast fullness, the contour edges of these elastic cups similarly expanded to change the overall outer dimensions of the brassiere. It has been found, however, that while a wearers breast may increase in fullness, the contour of the wearers breast remains the same. The net result, therefore, of the constructions in accordance with the prior art method was to obtain a brassiere which, if expanded due to increasing breast fullness, would likewise increase the contour dimensions and would therefore fail to furnish the required support at the contour where it was needed, due to the fact that there was a substantial discrepancy in size between the outside dimensions of the breast cups and the contour of the breasts.

According to the present invention, the above described deficiencies in the prior art have been overcome while still providing a brassiere which is able to accommodate increasing fullness in the wearers breasts. More specifically, the aforementioned problem has been solved by providing a brassiere having cups which are provided with parts made of an elastic fabric, which parts are secured to non-elastic parts defining some or all of the contour of the breast cups. In this way, the cups may expand to accommodate increased fullness in the breasts while the contour defining parts of the breast cups, being made of non-elastic material, do not expand, and therefore continue to provide the required support at the contour of the breasts.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an improved brassiere which accommodates changes in fullness of the wearers breasts while retaining support at the contour thereof.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a brassiere having a pair of breast cups, each of which cups is made of an elastic part secured to a non-elastic part.

Another object of the invension is the provision of a brassiere having a pair of breast cups, each of which cups is made of an elastic part secured to a non-elastic part, said non-elastic part defining the contour of the breast cups.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a brassiere having a pair of breast cups, each of which reast cups is provided with an elastic part secured to a non-elastic part, the po nts of securement of said elastic part to said non-elastic part being of a specific configuration for the purpose of permitting the elastic parts of the breast cups to stretch uniformly without producing binding on the wearers skin.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more fully understood from the following description considered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of a brassiere in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken along line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front elevation of one breast cup of a brassiere in accordance with a modified form of the inven tion;

FIG. 4 is a section, on an enlarged scale, taken along line 44 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a front elevational view of one breast cup of a brassiere in accordance with yet another modified form of the invention; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional View, on an enlarged scale, taken along line 66 of FIG. 5.

Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to FIG. 1, there is shown a brassiere it) in accordance with one form of the invention. Brassiere 10 comprises breast cups 12 and 14, side portions 16 and 18, and back portions 26% and 22 provided at their ends with conventional means for releasable securement to each other. The usual shoulder straps 24 and 26 are provided.

The manner in which cups 12 and 14 are formed constitutes the main aspect of the inventive construction in brassiere 10, as will be described hereinafter. More specifically, breast cup 12 comprises a pair of sections, namely upper section 28 and lower section 30 secured together by line of stitching 32. Lower section 30 is made of an elastic fabric, preferably an elastic fabric made with a stretchable yarn known as spandex, and is stretchable in a vertical direction only as shown by the arrows. Upper section 28 consists of two parts, namely part 34 and part 36. Part 34 is made of an elastic fabric which is stretchable in a horizontal direction only, as shown by the arrows of FIG. 1. Part as is made of a non-elastic fabric, such as lace or any other non-elastic material, and is secured to elastic part 34 along line of stitching 38. It will be noted that line of stitching 38 is of generally scalloped shape for reasons which will be explained hereinafter.

In accordance with the aforedescribed construction of breast cup 12, it will be noted that the upper edge thereof, namely edge 40, is made of non-elastic fabric and is, therefore, not stretchable or subject to a change in dimension. The lower contour edge 42, of breast cup 12, which secures the breast cup to the remainder of the brassiere, is also non-elastic in nature. Accordingly, it will be seen that the breast cup 12 in brassiere 10 is provided with non-elastic contour edges and is further pro vided intermediate these contour edges with portions of particular configurations which are stretchable along predetermined directions. This construction permits the brassiere cups to expand in response to an increase in breast fullness. The combination of the horizontally extensible part 34 and vertically extensible section 30 permits the uniform stretching of the breast cup to provide maximum comfort to the wearer. At this point it is worth mentioning that it has been found that a normal increase in breast fullness is not accompanied by a change in the contour dimensions of the wearers breast. Having this in mind, it will be noted that in brassiere It), When breast fullness increases, the contour edges of the breast cup do not change the dimension to retain a comfortable and good fit of the brassiere on the wearer.

Referring now again to the particular scalloped configuration of the line of stitching 38 which secures an elastic part 34 to non-elastic part 36, this stitch line 38, it is noted, has a pair of low points such as, 44 and 46. When upper section 34 stretches due to increase in breast fullness, uniform stretching without providing bulges is permitted because of low points 44 and 46. In other words, the stretching of section 34 permits expansion thereof Without binding on the wearer and causing the usually accompanying discomfort. It will be understood, of course, that breast cup 14 of brassiere lid is in all respects identical to aforedescribed breast cup 12.

Referring now to FIG. 3, there is shown another embodiment of a brassiere in accordance with the invention. As shown in FIG. 3, breast cup 5i? of such modified embodiment comprises upper section 52 and a pair of lower sections 54 and 55. Line of stitching 57 secures section 54 to section 55, and line of stitching S6 secures sections 54- and 55 to upper section 52. Upper section 52 is made of a non-elastic fabric. Left section 54 is made up of an elastic part 62 and a non-elastic section 64, secured together along line of stitching 66, which may be of zig zag shape, as shown. Right side section 55 is constructed similarly to left side section 54. Elastic section 62 is also preferably made out of a material known as spandex, and is elastic only in the vertical direction, as shown by the arrows. In accordance with the aforedescribed construction of breast cup 50, the elastic portions therein are extensible so as to permit increase in breast fullness while retaining the outer dimensions of the breast cup constant. The advantages and uses of brassiere 50 are generally the same as those of the brassiere of FIG. 1. The brassiere of FIG. 3, however, would be used for wearers having breast characteristics and configurations slightly diiferent from a wearer for whom brassiere 10 would be best suited. In this connection it will be noted that line of stitching 56 is slightly higher than half Way up the breast cup so that the apex 63 of the breast cup will actually be covered by the elastic section 62 thereof as best seen in FIG. 4. The zig Zag shape of line of stitching 66 serves the same purpose as the scalloped formation of line of stitching 38 in FIG. 1, namely, to permit the elastic portions of the cup to expand uniformly under increasing breast fullness without causing binding and discomfort to the wearer.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 5, is a combination of the embodiments in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3. In this connection, it will be noted that the lower part 64 of breast cup 62 in FIG. 5 is similar to the lower part of breast part 50 in FIG. 3, and the upper part 66 of breast cup 62 is similar to the upper part of breast cup 12 in FIG. 1. The brassiere of FIG. 5, therefore, incorporates the features of the brassieres of FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, and would be used primarily where substantial increase in breast fullness is anticipated by the wearer.

It is important to note that in the embodiment of FIG. 5, as is the case in the other two embodiments, the contour edge of the breast cup is made of non-elastic material while the internal portions of the breast cup are permitted to expand to accommodate the increasing breast fullness.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiments of my invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise than as herein specifically illustrated or described, and that in the illustrated embodiment certain changes in the details of construction and in the form and arrangement of parts may may be made without departing from the underlying idea or principles of this invention within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A brassiere comprising, a body encircling member having a pair of breast cups attached thereto, each of said breast cups having an upper and a lower section secured together by a first line of stitching, each of said upper sections having a non-elastic part which includes the upper contour edge of the associated breast cup and an elastic part disposed inwardly of said non-elastic part, said elastic part being secured to said non-elastic part by a second line of stitching, each of said lower sections having a nonelastic part which includes the lower contour edge of the associated breast cup and an elastic part disposed inwardly of said non-elastic part, said elastic part on said lower sections being secured to said nonelastic part on said lower section by a third line of stitching, said second and said third line of stitching being nonrectilinear and having high and low points to permit the elastic part on the upper section to stretch uniformly without causing binding on the wearers skin, whereby said cups are stretchable in response to increasing breast fullness while said contour edges remain of constant dimensions.

2. A brassiere comprising, a body encircling member having a pair of breast cups attached thereto, each of said breast cups having an upper and a lower section secured together by a first line of stitching, each of said upper sections having a non-elastic part which includes the upper contour edge of the associated breast cup and an elastic part disposed inwardly of said non-elastic part, said elastic part being secured to said non-elastic part by a second line of stitching, each of said lower sections having a non-elastic part which includes the lower contour edge of the associated breast cup and an elastic part disposed inwardly of said non-elastic part, said elastic part on said lower section being secured to said non-elastic part on said lower section by a third line of stitching, said second and said third line of stitching being non-rectilinear and having high and low points to permit the elastic part on the upper section to stretch uniformly without causing binding on the wearers skin, whereby said cups are stretchable in response to increasing breast fullness while said contour edges remain of constant dimensions, said elastic part on said upper section being stretchable in a horizontal direction only and said elastic part on said lower section being stretchable in a vertical direction only.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,202,058 Malnick May 28, 1940 2,623,211 Brown Dec. 30, 1952 2,634,419 Pioli Apr. 14, 1953 2,701,362 Lo Cascio Feb. 8, 1955 2,764,760 Kaufman Oct. 2, 1956 2,884,927 Goldstein May 5, 1959 3,056,411 Child Oct. 2, 1962 

1. A BRASSIERE COMPRISING, A BODY ENCIRCLING MEMBER HAVING A PAIR OF BREAST CUPS ATTACHED THERETO, EACH OF SAID BREAST CUPS HAVING AN UPPER AND A LOWER SECTION SECURED TOGETHER BY A FIRST LINE OF STITCHING, EACH OF SAID UPPER SECTIONS HAVING A NON-ELASTIC PART WHICH INCLUDES THE UPPER CONTOUR EDGE OF THE ASSOCIATED BREAST CUP AND AN ELASTIC PART DISPOSED INWARDLY OF SAID NON-ELASTIC PART, SAID ELASTIC PART BEING SECURED TO SAID NON-ELASTIC PART BY A SECOND LINE OF STITCHING, EACH OF SAID LOWER SECTIONS HAVING A NON-ELASTIC PART WHICH INCLUDES THE LOWER CONTOUR EDGE OF THE ASSOCIATED BREAST CUP AND AN ELASTIC PART DISPOSED INWARDLY OF SAID NON-ELASTIC PART, SAID ELASTIC PART ON SAID LOWER SECTIONS BEING SECURED TO SAID NONELASTIC PART ON SAID LOWER SECTION BY A THIRD LINE OF STITCHING, SAID SECOND AND SAID THIRD LINE OF STITCHING BEING NONRECTILINEAR AND HAVING HIGH AND LOW POINTS TO PERMIT THE ELASTIC PART ON THE UPPER SECTION TO STRETCH UNIFORMLY WITHOUT CAUSING BINDING ON THE WEARER''S SKIN, WHEREBY SAID CUPS ARE STRETCHABLE IN RESPONSE TO INCREASING BREAST FULLNESS WHILE SAID CONTOUR EDGES REMAIN OF CONSTANT DIMENSIONS. 